Monday, 2 February 2009

The Quest for the Prize has been out now for two months, and I have received quite some feedback from people I know who have read it - all positive so far. I have also been asked some questions, so I thought it would be good to update this blog with those questions and of course - the answers....

Is the Quest for the Prize linked to religion?- No it is not, well not directly anyway. This is not a story about religion, nor is it about Jesus or any other religious icon. It is true that the story mentions the "Good Lord" but this is just the opposite of the "Evil Lord", the balance of good versus evil. Now you may wonder why I answered 'not directly', for in the future books (remember the Quest for the Prize is the first of a trilogy) the church does get involved, as well as some politicians, the media, the secret service, and many others, but the story is not one founded around religion.

Does Stonehenge come into the story?- Stonehenge is a very important part of the storyline and this was the reason why it can be seen on the front cover. In the first book (the Quest for the Prize) Stonehenge merely gets introduced - specifically in the ‘book of Gred’. The Henge will come more and more into play in the subsequent parts of the trilogy.

What made you write the Quest for the Prize?- I was getting tired of reading mystery novels where the ‘hero’ solved the whole story in the last five minutes, or that you needed a PhD in religious studies, the arts, or history in order to be able to solve it. I wanted to give the reader the chance to solve the story himself (or herself) – if they of course wanted to, based on general knowledge and IQ. All the clues to the actual whereabouts of the prize, and what it actually is, are hidden away in the story, so if the reader wants to, they can try and solve it themselves. If they do not want to, then they can just sit back and wait for book two.

Is there a real prize?- No there is no real prize. This is not a competition where you can win anything – unless you feel that the challenge of actually solving the puzzle is rewarding in itself. There is no cash prize and there is nothing buried away that you can go and dig up. All you can do is sit in your armchair and solve the puzzle….

When is the second book coming out?- This is not decided yet. Books two and three are already written (although I am currently going through them again and checking/updating them), so when a decision is taken then they can be published fairly quickly, but I would not expect book two to be published before 2010.

I would like again to wish success to those who have embarked on the quest, and if anyone out there has further questions then please let me know and I will try and answer them – without of course giving away the solution to the puzzle…..